


Curtain Call

by SkyEverett



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Circus, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-11 09:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3322550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyEverett/pseuds/SkyEverett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doll really did think that she would be able to kill Ciel Phantomhive. But fate was cruel to her and she was unable to avenge her friends' deaths. What she did get, however, was a chance to see them again...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Curtain Call

_“I’ll never forgive you…you’ll pay…you’ll pay!  SMILE!”_  
   
        Doll had taken a small knife—one that she never truly had to use—and rushed the boy who she thought could have been her friend, who could have been like her…exactly like her…  
   
        From the very moment Smile—no, the earl Ciel Phantomhive—had admitted to killing all of her friends…her  _family…_ she had felt the sense of betrayal boiling inside her…like a creature made of fury.  
   
        It was hard to believe—coming from her history—that she had never killed anyone, but it was true.  During those kidnapping missions, she had only entertained the little child while Dagger, Beast, and Joker had killed the oncoming constables.  She could never bring herself to hurt another human being, but maybe that was the reason that she had pulled a knife the moment she had seen the earl’s true nature.  With the flames of the mansion behind him, Black cradling him like a lame child, and his eyes dull and glowing, he didn’t seem human at all.   
   
         _Maybe that’s the reason I thought I could do it._  
   
        In reality all it took was one word…  
   
         _“Sebastian.”_  
   
        …one word to end her life.  
   
        She didn’t even feel it.  
 

* * *

   
        Joker looked back as he remembered his death.  It didn’t feel as bad now, and he did feel a bit angry as he looked down upon the abandoned ruins of the warehouse.  Lord Kelvin had lied to them, tricked them into murdering innocent people for something that hadn’t existed for such a long time.  He truly did feel like a criminal.  
   
        But now he could let all of that go, and finally just be himself.  He looked at the ghostly forms of Beast, Dagger, Peter, Wendy, and Jumbo, who were smiling and laughing happily.  After years of torturous work in the disguise of a children’s circus, they were finally free.  Gone were the fake circus costumes and brightly colored acts.  Gone was the dread of killing with a smile and putting children through hell just so they could play the tune of Lord Kelvin’s game.  
   
        “Hey, Beast.”  
   
        Beast looked up from talking to Dagger and walked over to him.  His scarf was still wrapped snugly around her neck.  “Yes?”  
   
        “Look at this.”  He held up his hands, showing that both of them were whole and healthy.  It was almost a relief to be free of the cursed ceramic that the Doc had used.  Knowing that the children that died while performing in the twisted circus of Kelvin’s were used to make the Doc’s infamous prosthetics made Joker sick.  Especially when, for that one moment, he had doubted his ability to choose what he wanted, no matter what the cost.  
   
        Beast smiled.  “Yes.  We’re completely whole.  There’s no more need for prosthetic limbs.”  At a glance, Joker could tell that Beast no longer had the slight limp she used to have when she had her prosthetic leg.  
   
        “Remember what I told you before this entire mess started?”  
   
        “Remember what?”  Joker flashed his wicked grin.  
   
        “I told you that if I had a right arm, I could carry you.”  Beast only had a second to realize what he was saying before he swept her into his arms.  
   
        Immediately a blush spread across Beast’s face.  “J-Joker, what do you think you’re…!”  
   
        “Now that this entire mess is at its end,” he said, “I have more time to spend with you.”  
   
        Beast fell silent, her eyes wide.  “What…you mean…?”  
   
        “Come on, Beast.  Let’s spend lots of time together from now on.  I do love you, after all.”  
   
        Beast’s eyes began to fill with tears and she smiled.  It had been such a long time since Joker had seen a smile so beautiful.  
   
        “Hey!  Hands off Big Sis!” yelled a voice.  Joker turned to see Dagger, no longer tall and blond, no longer handling the knife he was named for like a toy, running towards them.   
   
        “It’s all right, Dagger,” said Beast, laughing.  “I’ll be sure to spend some time with you, too.”  
   
        “I hope so…hey!  Look at this!”  Dagger reached up to catch a thick black ribbon that was floating away on the wind.   
   
        “Someone’s top knot, I reckon,” stated Joker.  “It is a particularly windy day.”  Dagger let it go, only for it to be caught by Wendy, who had done an acrobatic jump off of Jumbo’s shoulder to catch it.  As Joker set Beast down, he smiled at the two second youngest of their group.  They were too innocent to ever engage in brutal activity like torture and murder.  It was only now that they were living up to the names Joker had given them.  With the clouds and golden-hour sun behind Peter and Wendy, it really did look like they were flying.  Even Jumbo was looking happier than he ever had been.  He had his flute pulled out and was playing a joyful tune.  
   
        They really were at rest.  
  

* * *

   
         _“That’s great!  Give me one, too!”_  
   
         _“Hmm, let’s see…all right, you’ll be ‘Doll!’”_  
   
         _“What?  No!  A girly name like that doesn’t fit me!”_  
   
         _“Heh heh…’course it does.  ‘Cuz you’re our precious little sister.”_  
   
        Doll opened her eyes and looked up at the sky.  She was sitting on the grass where they used to play as kids.  It seemed like such a long time ago.  
   
        “Doll?”  
   
        She glanced up at the clouds and saw Joker and the others, waiting patiently.  They hadn’t moved on yet; they had been waiting for her.  She could see every single one of them, no longer donning the bright, colorful costumes of Noah’s Ark Circus, but wearing the clothes they were wearing before they had been pulled into the madness of Kelvin’s work.  They all looked so young and free…  
   
        Doll leapt to her feet and flew into the air, eager to be with them so that they could move on to their new life together.  As she neared them, she felt the pristine white costume vanish and be replaced by her old white dress that she used to wear.  She was reverting back to the younger, more innocent version of herself, just like all the others did…but with one difference.  Her damaged eye became healthy, and she saw with two eyes for the first time.  
   
        She didn’t see Snake amongst her family, and before she joined the others, she prayed that he find good fortune and a better family, wherever he went.  
   
        Then she was with them and in the arms of Beast and Joker.  Laughing, the seven spirits took their last look upon the world, then ran joyfully into the horizon, singing to one very familiar tune…  
   
 _Tom, he was a piper’s son_  
 _He learned to play when he was young_  
 _And all the tune that he could play_  
 _Was over the hills and far away_  
 _Over the hill and a great way off_  
 _The wind shall blow my top knot off…_  
   
        Sadness turned to hope, grief to laughter, and imprisonment to freedom as the children of Lord Kelvin’s ploy disappeared into the blue.


End file.
